Prosecutor cautious as doubts are raised on suspect's story

BOULDER, Colo. — John Mark Karr sparked an international media spectacle Thursday by admitting involvement in the 1996 murder of child beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey, but the televised confession by the American in Thailand also raised new doubts.

"I was with JonBenet when she died. Her death was an accident," the schoolteacher told reporters in Bangkok, feeding a frenzy of new interest in the murder mystery. Asked if he was innocent, Karr said "no," without making eye contact.

In a morning news conference, Boulder County District Atty. Mary Lacy confirmed that Karr had been arrested in JonBenet's murder and had been under investigation for "months." But she declined to discuss the evidence her office had gathered or say what charges will be brought.

"We should all heed the poignant advice John Ramsey gave [Wednesday]," Lacy warned, referring to JonBenet's father. "Do not jump to judgment. Do not speculate."

Karr, 41, has apparently been living abroad since getting out of jail in California in 2001 after a child pornography arrest. He is to be brought to Colorado in the next week to face charges of first-degree murder, kidnapping and child sexual assault, an official with the U.S. Homeland Security Department said in Thailand.

Several inconsistencies arose in connection with Karr's statements to Thai officials and reporters, as communicated Thursday in the international media. To start, Karr--who once lived near the Ramseys in Georgia--reportedly claimed to have drugged and had sex with JonBenet before accidentally causing her death, according to a senior Thai police officer who spoke with The Associated Press.

But an autopsy report on the 6-year-old, who was found strangled in the basement of her family's Boulder home, didn't note evidence of drugs or alcohol in her body. A sexual assault was suggested by cuts in an area around her vagina.

Also, in an interview Karr's ex-wife Lara Knutson told KGO-TV in California that she and Karr were vacationing in Alabama when JonBenet was found dead on Dec. 26, 1996. And his father, Wexford Karr, told the Denver Post he did not believe his son had ever been in Colorado.

Both family members confirmed that Karr had been fascinated by JonBenet's murder.

"It's very important for me that everyone knows that I love her very much, and that her death was unintentional . . . it was an accident," Karr told the AP in an interview. But it remains unclear whether he had any contact with the girl or her family; Ramsey family members declined comment on what connections, if any, they had with Karr.

Lt. Gen. Suwat Tumrongsiskul, head of Thailand's immigration police, said Karr claimed JonBenet died during a kidnapping attempt gone awry, adding that Karr said "it was second-degree murder. He said it was unintentional. He said he loved this child."

But that doesn't explain why Karr would craft a bizarre ransom note asking for $118,000, which the girl's mother, Patsy Ramsey, said she found in the house after the crime.

"There is tremendous reason for skepticism" about the confession, given these inconsistencies, said Larry Pozner, a Denver lawyer and past president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. "This guy can't get his story down."

Other than Karr's confession, no evidence has been made public to link him to the crime.

Scott Robinson, another Denver attorney, said he was struck Thursday by how cautious Lacy, the prosecutor, was in her news conference, and how often she repeated that Karr has to be presumed innocent.

"The way I read it, [Lacy] was saying we don't know if we have the right guy here and we don't know yet if we have an airtight case," Robinson said.

"We have no idea if this is a true or a false confession," said Sam Kamin, associate professor of law at the University of Denver. He said the prosecutor's job now is to find evidence that will corroborate Karr's confession and clearly link him to the crime.

The strongest evidence could come from Karr's DNA samples, which were taken in Thailand and will be taken again in America, according to several reports. If they match DNA discovered underneath JonBenet's fingernails and on her underwear, that would be proof of his involvement in the crime.

To date, DNA found on the girl has not been matched to anyone in the FBI's database.

Karr could also prove his involvement by giving authorities details about the crime that are not part of the public record. "There is information about the murder that has never been publicly disclosed," longtime Ramsey family attorney Lin Wood said Thursday.

Wood confirmed that Karr had sent e-mails and letters to Patsy Ramsey before she died of ovarian cancer in June.